AQE Exam Results

kingston_2730

I wouldn't mind if it was a B1 he got but I would feel more reassured if it were a slightly stronger B1.

bangor_dad

Sorry, but trying to be honest & tell it how I see it. Good luck & best wishes.

Ardara1

bangor_dad wrote: »

Ok, so start position is last year there were about 23,000 P7 kids, of these about 15,000 sat the 11+. An A grade was awarded to the top 25% aff all P7s (NOT 25% of those that sat the test). So about 37% of those sitting the tests got an A grade and about another 7.5% of those sitting the tests got a B1.
Now this year about 7,000 sat AQE and about 6,700 sat the GL tests (some will have sat both but probably not many), so roughly 13,700 sat tests this year compared to 15,000 last year which sounds reasonable.
If P7 population is roughly the same as last year then 25% of 23,000
is 5,750, so to have the equivalent of an A you would need to be in the top 5,750 (across AQE &GL tests) this is equivalent to the top 42% of those sitting the tests. The next 8% is equivalent to a B1. So A & B1 takes up the top 50%.
This all stacks up with the fact that there are 4,600 places at the grammar schools which are using AQE equivalent to 65% of the number of kids who sat the test. There are lots of grammar schools taking B2s & Cs which expalins the gap between 65% and 50% redferred to above.

How many Grammar school places are there available in total?

kidshorsesdogs

Ex-Spendaholic wrote: »

Yes you do NI Mum. In fairness though at least Campbell are upfront about their fees. Inst is about £850 but you don't hear about that.

I have friends with boys at INST and Campbell, INST are very upfront with their fees, available on thier website, printed prospectous and in the BEELB transfer procedure book. Fees can be paid monthly, termly or annual, and help is available if parents can't afford them.

Music lessons on an instrument will be extra at any grammar school using peripatetic teachers. INST are seen as the more academic and usually take A, B1 with a few B2's unlike Campbell who take quite a lot of D's, but obviously their fees are much higher. The reason everyone knows about Campbell's fees is that it always had the reputation of being the school that took D's as long as you could pay to get in!!

JosieJoBelfast

In relation to the grades. See below. Although I posted a link to a conversation with Maggie Taggart where she indicated that the highest score was 130.

There is a lady on this blog who has indicated that the highest is actually 127 in the AQE tests, she spoke to someone in the AQE office who told her.

Sorry as a new user it won't allow me to post the link - however if you type paceni.wordpress into your search engine you should find it. Check out the comments on the 6 February blog - the lady's comment it towards the end.

bigbiff

has anyone foned b.r.a.to see wat there lowest mark is that they are acceptin yet

vido

Bangor dad - you're taking the whole P7 population into your calculations of the quintiles but if you read the accompanying letter sent out with your child's score you will see that the AQE have based their scores on the numbers who sat the tests.

ni-mum

vido wrote: »

Bangor dad - you're taking the whole P7 population into your calculations of the quintiles but if you read the accompanying letter sent out with your child's score you will see that the AQE have based their scores on the numbers who sat the tests.

Each quintile is a straight forward 1400.

Bangor Dad's calculations show how the old grades fit into these quintiles.

Aparent

Further to my earlier posts.

Banbridge Academy open night was last night and principal said, based on his 15 years of experience as a headmaster and looking at the results, he would expect children applying from the top three quintiles to gain a place at the school.

In previous years the Academy has taken mostly A grades with a small number (7 last year I recall) of B1s.

It has greatly reassured me and I have to say Mr Pollock has been excellent in his open, honest and concise answers to parents all the way through this process.

What strikes me now is that trying to equate these marks to As, B1s, B2s etc. is a complete waste of time and AQE should not have issued that mark guidance sheet as it has only spread confusion and concern.

With my daughter's mark of 101 I'm still not taking anything for granted in terms of her getting a place at the Academy - but she was with me last night, heard what Mr. Pollock said, and it has lifted her self esteem enormously after Saturday's shock.

The overriding concern i would have now is if i had a child in P6 - the playing field in terms of preparation and coaching is simply not level - and that is unfair.

Ex-Spendaholic

I phoned AQE today. Unfortunately I have a horrendous cough at present and had to get off the phone very quickly.

I asked them if they were going to publish more guidance on the breakdown of these marks, quintiles etc and how many kids were in Quintile 1 and 2. They said they weren't and the information we got on Saturday was sufficient. :mad: I told her it was anything but and has led to shock, despair, misconceptions etc regarding what it all means.

She told me that my child's mark of 104 is "excellent" so that is reassuring for me at least although I wonder if she is saying that for all marks. :mad: Furthermore she told me that the top mark achieved was 128 and that only a couple of kids got anything like this.

I hope to phone them back when I can manage to speak for more than 30 seconds without coughing but it would be great if anyone else could call them and see what they can find out.